NEW YORK.- He Museo Metropolitan of New York inaugurates a exhibition entirely dedicated to the moda made by women, in an attempt to break down stereotypes and publicize the work of many designers who failed to emerge from the shadows.
The symbol of the exhibition Women who dress womenopen until March 3, is a cotton muslin dress decorated with silk roses and taffeta made by Ann Lowe (1898-1981), a pioneer among African-American creators, but ignored in her time, despite the fact that she designed the Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress (1953).
Three decades earlier, the French house Premet, which closed in 1931, launched the La Garonne dress designed by Mme Charlotte: “whose success emerged three years before that of (Gabrielle) Chanel”, at the head of the house of the same name, he notes. the museum.
Through 80 costumes by 70 designers, the fashion branch of the prestigious New York museum the Costume Institute reviews the art of women’s clothing from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, and the messages of designers such as the Uruguayan Gabriela Hearst and Hillary Taymour.
“Omissions”
“The most important thing is to show the incredible diversity of the creators present throughout history and who made these great contributions to fashion,” explains Mellissa Huber, associate curator of the Costume Institute.
“Our ambition is to dispel stereotypes that women are more ‘practical’ than men or that they create for themselves,” to the detriment of creativity, she adds.
For women, the story begins in the anonymity of the sewing workshops to which they were often relegated.
But several French creators have imposed themselves since the beginning of the 20th century, such as Madeleine Vionnet, Jeanne Lanvin and Gabrielle Channel. In the interwar period, in France the number of dressmakers surpassed that of men, the exhibition highlights.
To present the clothing designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, Nina Ricci or Vivianne Westwood, the Costume Institute has searched through its collection of more than 33,000 pieces that represent seven centuries of clothing.
The exhibition, initially scheduled for 2020 to celebrate 100 years of women’s suffrage in the United States but which had to be postponed due to the pandemic, concludes on a political note, mentioning absences or omissions in museum collections or canons of Fashion.
An example of this is the dress that celebrates plus sizes, created by the French Ester Manas.
The impressive collection of the Costume Institute will stand out during the museum’s next major fashion exhibition, in the spring of 2024, when it aims to awaken its sleeping beauties, that is, the rarest and most fragile pieces of its collection.
This event is eagerly awaited, since it coincides, like every year, with the Met Gala, the famous philanthropic evening to which stars attend in extravagant outfits.
FUENTE: AFP
